ACLU joins fight against Kountze cheerleaders' scripture banners

Cassie Smit, Beaumont Enterprise

By Cassie Smith

Updated 6:11 pm, Friday, September 6, 2013

The cheerleaders hold the break through sign for the team at the start of the game. This was the first home football game in Kountze since the sign controversy started and since the Thursday hearing that determined the cheerleaders could or could not use their faith-based signs. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

The cheerleaders hold the break through sign for the team at the...

At the end of the day, after the judge had decided on an extension for the temporary restraining order, lead attorney David Starnes talks to the media about the judges' decision. Thursday morning, 356th District Court Judge Steve Thomas heard arguments from the Kountze cheerleaders and the school district regarding use of scriptures on signs at football games. He has to decide to order a temporary injunction, allowing the cheerleaders to use their signs or not. The hearing started at 9 a.m. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

At the end of the day, after the judge had decided on an extension...

A sign can be seen taped to an entrance ramp before the start of the game in support of the cheerleaders. This was the first home football game in Kountze since the sign controversy started and since the Thursday hearing that determined the cheerleaders could or could not use their faith-based signs. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

A sign can be seen taped to an entrance ramp before the start of...

Some of the cars in the courthouse parking lot showed support for the cheerleaders cause. Thursday morning, 356th District Court Judge Steve Thomas heard arguments from the Kountze cheerleaders and the school district regarding use of scriptures on signs at football games. He has to decide to order a temporary injunction, allowing the cheerleaders to use their signs or not. The hearing started at 9 a.m. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said in a written statement that the banners send a message to students and families of other faiths and non-believes that they are second-class within the community because they aren't Christians.

"Students have a right to exercise and express their faith in a variety of ways, including by praying individually or in groups, forming religious clubs, and wearing religious jewelry and clothing," Weaver said. "But students cannot be subjected to school-sponsored evangelizing as a condition of attending football games."

The school district's attorney filed a legal brief last week requesting clarification to a ruling handed down by Hardin County 356th District Court Judge Steve Thomas in May that said the Scripture signs were constitutionally permissible.

Kountze Superintendent Reese Briggs said the district is asking the court for clarifications to its ruling to avoid future litigation and is not fighting the decision.

Beaumont attorney David Starnes, who represents a handful of the district's cheerleaders, issued a written response on Thursday to the ACLU's filing in which he accused the Kountze school district of partnering with the organization to prevent the girls from using Scripture on football run-through banners.

Starnes alleges the ACLU joined the district in the fight "to censor the private religious messages of the cheerleaders."

"We understand that the Kountze School Board and their ACLU allies are fighting against us with everything they have, but we believe the law and the facts are on our side, and we will prevail," Starnes said.

Tom Brandt, the school district's attorney, rejected Starnes' assertion and said the suggestion that Kountze ISD has "cozied up" with the ACLU is "absolutely and completely false."

Brandt said the district had no prior knowledge of the ACLU's intent to become involved in the case.

"It's completely outrageous for anyone to suggest in any way, shape or form that the school district is partnering with the ACLU," he said.

Starnes said earlier this week that he didn't intend to file his response to the district's appeal for clarification until October, which would likely mean a hearing would be set sometime in November. Starnes said he had planned on that ruling coming sometime in early 2014, well after the end of the high school football season.

It's unclear what, if any, effect the ACLU's involvement will now have on the case or hearing timeline.

Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director of the ACLU of Texas, said that because the case between the district and the students is in the appeal process, it gave the ACLU the opportunity to weigh in on the matter.

Robertson said since the school district gives cheerleaders exclusive access to the football field, allowing use of the banners violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Hiram Sasser, The Liberty Institute litigation director, said his organization, which has previously supported the cheerleaders in their legal fight, is busy preparing a response to the recent court filings. The group wants to reaffirm its position that the cheerleaders have a right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion while on school property.

The dispute over the Bible banners began in September 2012, when a former Kountze superintendent banned the use of the signs after receiving a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. In response, the cheerleaders' parents hired Starnes to file an injunction on their behalf. The cheerleaders claimed the district could not tell them what message to put on the banners since the girls paid for the supplies and created the signs on their own time.

Patrick Elliott, Freedom From Religion Foundation staff attorney, said on Thursday that his organization has maintained that the banners are school endorsed speech, and that type of speech is prohibited by the district. Elliott said he hopes the ACLU's involvement helps put an end to the matter.